Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1887-11-03
wooDLAwN FARMERS. CLuB
(Reporled for the Alexandria GAZE

Z
Reported for the Alexandria GAzErTE.)
( The WoodinHn Farmers Club met at the
residence of a. W. Harrison on the 29th OF
October, President Pierson in the chair.
c. Lakens read the critical report calling
attention to the commanding situation of
The dwelling, giving its owner the opportu.
nifty of overlooking the operations of several
of the other members OF thu club, located in
the valley below. His land is principally OF
C sandy loan which under favorable circum.
stances repopGs literally to the labor be.
slowed. The OLD adage "He who makes
two blades OF grass grow where but one grew
| before is q public benefactor," should Ger.
! tainly place the host in that list, as he found
but little cultivated grass on the farm when
it came into his possession, whereas his
barn COW appears to be we'll filled with good
feeding hay, though there is.one serious OBJ.
stacle in the way of growing hay Of the best
! quality, the large quantity of dewberry vines
and Virginia creepers that much OF the land
| is infested with There ere many springs
/ issuing from the side hills, requiring many
bitches through the cultivated lands to car.
/ ry offlhe water which the committee thought
might be concentrated in fewer bitches 30 ad-
vantage and some Of which might be con.
verted into covered drains, thus doing away
/ with many unsightiy and needless divisions
! ia the fields that are nurseries for foul weeds,
| briars, sc. He has 8 herd OF 81 cows and
heiiers, number of which are the offspring
OF q thorough brt6 Holstein bull of which
any breeder Of that class of stock might be
proud. His cows and young stock are all in
good condition for the commencement of
winter. With the large amount Of hsy,
corn fodder ara ensiiage il store for use, in
addition TO liberal quantities Of whest bran
| spd corn meal ,theg should emergein spsingin
! g thrifty condition. He has also n number
of horscs and coils that are in good con0j
| tion foT fern use. The committee touched
I him up ii5Ile on the promiscuous distrbu.
! ti0n of bis farm implements ab5pt the place.
| Instead Of being in winter quarters. His
| corr crop Was q fair one for the season. All
Of his crops were reduced more Or less by
! the extended drought. About twenty acres
have been seeded il wheat, somo well ad
! vanced and part Just in. This permanent
! pasture of sixty acres is we'll sat 10 natural
! grass well waterod by never failing apribgs,
enG doubtless yields fGr better returns than
any system of tillago he could adopt. They
suggested the building OF hay barn in his
lower field for storing his market hay, TO
ssve the long haui in harvest time.
( Mr. Harrison explained that he found his
plan ofeowiag grass with cats had e1cour-
aged the growth Of briars aud creepers by
ilot eiyiue the land sufficient cultivation ald
! be had TO abandon the practice 10 some ex
tent He had also been putting in under
| drains and closing up some of the bitches
sincs ne had occupied the place. Ee had
/ difficulty ia getting tiles here without heavy
cost for transportation. He had tried sew
eral kinds OF underdraios. Board drains
answer well where there is constant stream
of water, otherwise they soon rot. The only
really reliable drain is tile laid with colarsa and
of uniform grade to prevent filing with SILT
The discussion of the critical report led into
q comparison Of views as 10 the propriety of
deep plowing and g diversity OF opinions
existed according to the local conditions of
soil, but nothing new was developed. The
subject of Concentrated VS.. Expansive
Farming" was next introduced by Presi-
dent Piersou reading the following essay:
To the Members of the Woodla,ga Farmers Club:
"Ec bit off moro than he could chew The
child at school has his or her ambition stimulated
to unnatural degree by trying to excel in an
excess Of studies allotted by the teacher in order to
show to his patrons or his superiors in department.
! al education what great progress his pupils can
make under his tuition. This is often done with.
out regard to tho ntellectusfor physical capacity
of the child, resulting in the ruin of mind and
bodg and the everlasting reprcach of those who
require extraordinary efforts OF the immature
mind and body.
The Young man or woman starting out in life
on their own account, urged sometimes by the
desire u in certain circles of society above
their capacity means, struggle along for awhile
and finally sink back lower in the scale of social
life than where they started from.
Your own observation and the daily records OF
the papers furnish many instances of the failures
made by the merchant tho manufacturer the pro-
fessional man, the politician and especially spec
ulators and gamblers. Who IS there to pity the
millionaire when he loses his millions at q single
venture in trying TO make Il corner in wheat, corn
or any of the necessaries of life? Their own dis
may and ruin teach them tnat there IS no safety
in taking too large moTthful
Cur words of caution are especially to the farm
er in his laborions calling 10 heed the homely
quotation at the head of our paper. II we speak
from bitter experience the weight of more than
three score years ought to have some weight and
influence with those who have many years to
struggle with the vicissitudes OF life before they
attain that age.
The ambitious farmer in purchasing farm
often comes into possession of hundreds OF acres
of land thinking that with sll the improved i'm
plements of husbandry he can accomplish with
these ten times as much as his father did with
the old implements on few scores of acres. This
is true as far as farm machinery goes but the
large and important item Of increased expense is
the amount of commercial fertilizers required on
these hundreds of acres, while on the smaller
farms the stables and barn yards produced the
bulk of the manure required. Tie rapid transit
of modern times tends to equslize prices of farm
products, SO that more caution is needed to deter
mine what to grow to advantage. Another com
mon mistake is often made-indeed, it is almos
universal-in plowing more land than can be suf
cienty Iaanured or cultivated IN season as the crop
REQUIRE If either of these is lacking we "have bi
of TOO much" Time and labor is too precious T.